Tamrifell
by Valravn Pandora
Summary: The mystery of how they got there, set to the backdrop of pointless warfare for demons, it is up to them to decide to find a way home, or stay in the circle of bloody madness.
1. Tamrihellic Beginnings

Pandora had this thing where asking her if she was a girl only got her to say she was a cat and then meow at them. Not a furry, but a cat. Maybe even complain about how the controllers weren't built for cat paws and that Sony needed to fix that.

But not even once did she ever entertain the thought of actually being a cat. She knew she was a human that had a sometimes worrying adoration of cats. She loved them to the point of being annoying with it and some of her friends let her know.

However, the entire notion of being human had now been stripped from her. Because now she was a race of beings known as the Khajiit. A race of humanoid cats that generally came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but Bethesda would only let you be the humanoid cat form.

Pandora couldn't remember how she got into this twisted world. Only that she now was, and how she wasn't alone. Upon looking around, she saw that hundreds if not thousands of people were standing around, looking so confused and scared.

"Holy shit! Where's my tits?! Holy shit I have a dick!" exclaimed a voice. Turning around, Pandora looked at Techno. Who was now a man. A Dunmer vampire man who was panicking over now being the completely opposite gender than what they were a moment ago.

"Holy shit, where's my dick?! Holy shit I have tits! Where's the mirror?!" exclaimed another voice. Pandora was quick to turn to see her other friend, Monkey, on his female Breton character. The Himalayan looking Khajiit sighed, knowing that she shouldn't have expected anything else from him in that regard. But looking in his/her direction did help the Khajiiti woman pinpoint where they were at. For in the distance, a city partially ruined was near and somewhat recognizable.

"Is that Cheydinhal?" she asked as Niko, on his black Khajiit character, jogged over to them. Queeny jogged after him on her Bosmer character. It seemed everyone was their character on the Elder Scrolls game.

"I think so. Let's go over there and see what we can find out," he said before he watched Monkey run to the semi-ruined city. "And maybe keep him from doing something stupid."

"Yeah." said Pandora before she went over and patted Techno's shoulder. "Come on, we're heading over there," she said.

Though the trek was a bit slow due to Pandora and Niko learning to walk with tails, they were able to get to Cheydinhal with little trouble. However, once they got close to a partially burned house, they heard Monkey swear like a sailor.

"That doesn't sound promising," said Pandora, though she was confused as to why Monkey sounded male again. Wasn't he on his Hannah character?

Not anymore, it seemed. Apparently what brought them there had changed Monkey into his Lights-in-Shadow character at the exact moment he found a mirror.

The others took the opportunity to look at themselves in the reflective surface, marveling at how different and yet similar they looked to their game counterparts. Even their outfits were remarkably familiar yet so different.

Pandora was surprised that she herself wasn't freaking out right now, but she reasoned that it may not have sunk in yet and the hysterics were just stewing for that perfectly inopportune moment.

"How'd we get here? How'd we get here!?" asked Queeny.

"I have no idea. Does anyone remember the last thing we were doing?" asked Pandora in reply. "I can't remember if I was playing the game or not."

"I was making my kid something to eat, that I do remember," said Techno. "And I'm pretty sure I was playing Minecraft with him before I popped up here."

"I was getting ready to get to work, there'd been no way for me to play at the time," said Niko.

"I was trying to crochet a blanket while watching Studio Ghibli movies!" said Queeny as she looked at the others. "Also, I hate how tall you guys are now."

"We can worry about that later," grouched Monkey as he looked back at the mirror. "So fucking close…"

"Okay, so...what's the plan? We're characters from a game we all have in common and play together on often," said Pandora. "What brought us here and why us specifically?"

"Don't know, Hun," said Niko in reply. "Maybe we should explore before we-"

He was interrupted by a peal of thunder so loud it caused them to cry out in pain. And then a blast of air hit the house so hard that it torn large chunks of it off, destabilizing an already weakened structure.

They ran out of the house as pieces of it began to fall, barely able to avoid being crushed under the wooden beams and flooring.

"We gotta get out of here!" shouted Techno.

"To where?!" Pandora cried out, panic and the stewing hysterics now deciding it was the perfect time to pop up.

"The sky!" shouted Queeny as she pointed up. The others looked and saw that it was a sickly green color when it was previously blue, blackish looking clouds floating by. Brilliantly red lightning bolts shot out of them, the thunderous blasts of air that caused destruction to everything around them only a second behind.

Then, in horror, the others watched as a red bolt arched for them.


	2. Covenant Awakened

Pandora sat up in bed, panic seizing her and keeping her from thinking clearly. Someone with a Nord male character was quick to grab her to keep her from hurting herself in her hysterical state, holding her as she screamed and thrashed.

A Redguard woman character had to grab her feet to keep from kicking, and it was a few minutes before she started calming down and crying.

"Shhh, shhh. There there...You're safe for now." said the Nord man as he continued to hold the Khajiit woman.

"W-what's going on?" asked Pandora, tears blurring her sight abit. "I was in Cheydinhal, I think...where's my friends?! They were hit by that bolt too!"

"They probably got sent to their characters' alliances. We all got separated into them." said the Redguard woman.

Pandora didn't remember what her friends' character alliances were at that moment, still trying to calm down from what felt like the last few moments of chaos.

"That happened to everyone?" asked the Khajiit.

"Yeah. I can't find my girlfriend, and she liked her Pact Imperial character," said the Nord before someone came into the room. It was Queeny, holding a plate of food and a mug.

"You're awake! I thought that lightning put you into a coma or something," she said as she quickly went over, putting the plate and mug on the nightstand. "It's been about three days since we got sent here. Are you okay?"

"I feel like I want to scream, bawl my head off, and panic. Maybe add a pinch of demanding to know how we got turned into video game characters. Other than that, I'm fucking peachy."

"Glad to know you're feeling better already," said the Bosmer flatly.

"Look, this is stressing me out. I'm pretty sure it's stressing you out. Hell, I'm surprised we all aren't screaming like lunatics at what the hell's going on," said Pandora.

"Yeah. Though some of us are taking it better than others," said the Nord. "I think one guy's still losing his shit over this whole thing. No matter what anyone says or does, only makes it worse."

"Hope he calms down soon," mumbled Pandora as she looked over at the plate. "Who made that?"

"Doesn't matter at the moment. Eat up, you need it," said the Redguard woman before she went to the windows.

Pandora couldn't say anything against what the other said. Her stomach was complaining about lack of food. Turning to the plate and mug, she slid her legs off and started eating the roasted chicken and vegetables.

Queeny explained as best she could that everyone whose characters were Covenant woke up in Wayrest. Apparently the bright red lightning bolts teleported everyone to where they were supposed to be and out of Cyrodiil.

"We're trying to figure out how to use the wayshrine behind the castle, but no one's got it to light yet. Not to mention that we have these weird dog men patrolling the place. Creeps me out," said the Redguard woman.

"They don't go and chase cats, do they?" asked Pandora, hoping to lighten her own mood.

"Nope, but they do like barking up the wrong tree," snorted the Nord. "Anyway, best eat up and get out of here. You need to head to the stables and then the armory. Maybe even the market place on the way. Seems we got everything we had in the game."

"Wait, everything? Including all our houses?" asked Pandora.

"Not sure. Like with the wayshrines, we're not sure how to get to our houses without teleporting there."

"Alright. What about pets?"

"Only got one. Some don't have pets at the moment, though."

"Maybe it's only what your character had before being zapped here? What brought us here, anyway? To Tamriel."

The Redguard woman shrugged at the other. "Hell if I know. Only thing any of us know right now is that we're here, we're not who we used to be, and that we haven't found a way home yet."

"Shit!" snapped Pandora.

"We know. We all have people we need to get back to, but we're stuck here for now." said the Redguard as she patted Pandora's back.

"Mom's going to have a heart attack...those assholes better not do anything to her before I get back because I'll fucking murder'em," growled the Himalayan Khajiit.

Queeny patted her back, knowing full well who the hell she was talking about.

"Don't worry. I'll help hide the bodies," she said.

Pandora growled again before shoving a piece of chicken and a carrot into her mouth, mostly to keep herself from swearing. After she finished, she got up, needing to hold onto Queeny to get her bearings, her tail still throwing her off. But once she started moving, she got the hang of it.

"So, to the stables, right?" asked the Khajiiti woman, looking around Wayrest, noting she was resting in the Cloudy Dregs Inn.

"Yup. You're gonna be so happy once you get there," said Queeny as she hopped around a little bit, clearly happy with her mobility.

"You know, I just noticed this, but you aren't favoring your arm."

"Yeah! Maybe this thing healed my muscles like it did your leg! It's great!" said Queeny before she lead the way around the fountain to the stables.

In one of the stalls was a large saber tooth tiger, pelt as black as night. And right next to the large feline was a small lion cub, trying to wrestle with a rein connected to the barding.

"...Mangalore?" asked Pandora, in surprise, shock, and horror. Because hot damn did he look so much bigger now that she was right next to him.

His head shot up and he made a strange, roar-like noise before hopping up and tackled her.

"Oh Jesus!" she cried out as Mangalore cleaned her with a tongue far rougher that a house cat's. And the tiny cubling joined in the licking, growling adorably when Mangalore got him as well.

"Shit! Manga stop! Stop!" cried out Pandora as she tried to get the larger cat to stop licking her. However, he didn't stop until a few minutes later, before getting up and letting her stand.

The cubling, though, wanted to play some more and tried to bite at the reins, leaping up but never quite making it.

"Are you...are you Mangalore for me, or for Orchid?" she asked the large cat. The Nightfall Sabre Cat did a strange shrug, indicating he had no idea. Sighing, Pandora looked at him and the cub both.

"Okay, so you and Sinne-Star are mine. Where's your ghost deer?" asked the Khajiit to Queeny, only to see her friend riding the ghostly deer. "Nevermind, you already have yours."

"Yeah! Don't know how the saddle stays on, but I'm not complaining!" she said with a grin. "Oh, once you're done here, we need to get you to the market. Oh, and the armory. They have our weapons and stuff there."

"Then why go to the market?" asked Pandora, confused. "Don't we have to buy our weaponry and armor?"

"Nope. We have to just show up and these weird, super tall and freaky things give you a box with your armor and weapons in it. The market is mainly for our slottable stuff, like potions and Stat foods."

"What about Crown Crates or soul gems?"

"Those too. Oh, and lockpicks. Can't forget those." said the Bosmer with a nod. "Don't know why, though. Those dog guys aren't letting us leave the city, not even to explore the Undaunted place."

Pandora looked confused while walking with her friend, the billows of the blacksmithy huffing and puffing as the flames were stoked. Mangalore and Sinne followed behind the two, the larger of the two grumbling at the dog guards. At the market, a strange, insect-like creature held a box. Upon seeing Pandora, it held it up towards her.

"Is...is that mine?" asked the Khajiit hesitantly.

A small curt nod was her reply.

"Well...okay then. Thank you." she said as she went and accepted her box. It felt heavy, and the unmistakable sounds of glass clinking against glass was heard.

"It's actually lighter than what it should be." said Queeny. "Open it up, you'll get a bag to carry it all without anything breaking."

Pandora put the box on a bench, opening it up to take the bag out. "What, you just put the stuff in it and hope for the best?"

"Pretty much. Even better, if you just put the box in, it will sort itself out."

Pandora looked at Queeny like she was nuts, but she put the box in anyway, and was surprised when the bottles and gems did exactly as Queeny said would.

"The hell?" she said, looking at the bag in shock before she started examining every bit of it. There was no logical way that could happen. Things didn't sort themselves out.

"It's magic, Wolfie. Come on, let's get your armor and stuff while I bitch about how much I think being the fruitcake cannibal Bosmer is total bullshit." said Queeny as they made their way to the Red Squall Armory.

Inside was another of the tall insect merchants, holding another box. This time, Pandora noticed that the box had a picture on the side of it. Accepting the box and thanking the insect merchant, she looked at the image before realization hit her. She knew that symbol! She designed it for a Fear Mythos story universe she was writing.

"How the hell do you know what emblem to use?!" she demanded, unsettled at the whole thing.

The being merely shrugged before getting another box from under the counter. Queeny patted her shoulder before dragging Pandora out of the place.

"Best not to ask because they ain't telling you shit," she said. "If anything, they don't talk to anyone."

"Then where is everyone? The original inhabitants? The original Bretons, Redguards, Orcs...where's the people that should already be here?"

All her friend could do was shrug.

Pandora sighed angrily before she put the box on the bench again. "This is ridiculous. There's no one besides us here? Impossible. This place exists and yet no one's here to maintain it? What, did the dog people take over? The bug men the construction crews? Did everyone get turned into the bug and dog people? What the hell is going on? Why are we here? And why the hell are those dog men coming out of the Wayrest Castle?"

Well, much to everyone at the market's surprise, a familiar face walked out from behind two rows of dog men.

It was King Emeric of the Daggerfall Covenant. Which both didn't surprise and yet made Pandora's train station of thoughts suffer a fiery crash. There were no survivors.

"What the FLAMING FUCK?!" Her hands waved at the King as he looked around the marketplace, though he did look at her when she exclaimed that.

"There's no need for that sort of language, but I do understand the sentiment. Greetings everyone. I am King Emeric of Wayrest, and as of this moment, the de facto leader of your alliance army. I know you all have a lot of questions to ask, so let me explain what I know to you.

"You all have been separated into three armies. Each being the Ebonheart Pact, the Aldmeri Dominion, and us, the Daggerfall Covenant. All of you have been drafted to fight in brutal warfare on behalf of not I, Skald-King Jorunn, and Queen Ayrenn, but for the Eight Divine Demons that rule this empty world."

Everyone there murmured to each other. This wasn't part of the game lore. The Aedra were the ones that made Nirn, why would they be considered demons?

"I see you're confused. I admit, you may be from another Nirn altogether, one where the Divines didn't go mad, and to which I beg your forgiveness for being brought here. However, now I must inform you that your fighting and bloodshed are to entertain the Divine terrors until they get bored of you and toss you all back to where you belong. Hopefully."

"What the fuck?" asked Pandora, horror growing in her gut. "We have to kill people? But...what? I...I can't do that! I cry when I see kittens and puppies hurt!"

The others there were not thrilled with that information as well since some protested loudly.

"I know, I know. Killing people for the benefit of monsters is irreprehensible, but as of this moment, it is now the only thing you are being asked to do."

"This sounds like the Daedra took over." whimpered Queeny, fear and revulsion evident on her face. Pandora felt the same way.

"What happened to the Divines?" shouted an Orc Woman.

"Something happened and they are now mad, corrupted, replaced, I don't know. But they aren't who they once were. And if any of you are Daedra Worshippers, don't bother praying to the likes of Azura or Molag Bal. They were killed by the Aedra when the Eight went mad."

"How?! The Aedra were weakened when they made Nirn!" said Pandora.

"That, I am not sure. But they somehow gained power over their Daedric counterparts, and then devoured them, possibly corrupting them into the abominations they are now." King Emeric looked over the crowd as Pandora looked at her fellow gamers, seeing emotions ranging from fear, to revulsion, to confusion, even to panic.

"We're puppets on the strings of mad puppeteers," she muttered, feeling sick to her stomach. "Oh dear God on high…"

"Hey! What about Talos?! He was a man first!" said an Argonian male.

"He has been chained to the Imperial City, with the White-Gold Tower built around him. He has been chained to the pillars of Reality and unable to help."

Murmurs and whispers rippled through the crowd.

Pandora had to turn away when someone started puking in fright.

This wasn't, in any way shape or form, Tamriel. This didn't fit with the game series' lore at all.

Did the Thalmor corrupt them in their attempt to destroy the Mundus? Did Akatosh finally had enough and went mad?

What was happening around here?!

"You all have a month to get used to your new home before large groups of you will be sent off to Cyrodiil to fight. I will do my best to coordinate your battles and minimize casualties, but with all things involving war, do not expect things to go as planned. I...I'm sorry. If you have any other questions, please ask me. I will be in the castle, trying to plan for battles and prayers for every soul here.

"Oh, and before I forget, you all have permission to explore all of the Covenant lands, but I warn you, the monsters here may be more aggressive than what you're used to." said King Emeric before he turned and went back into the castle, leaving the throngs to deal with the knowledge they now possessed.

"What are we gonna do?" whimpered Pandora.

Queeny started hyperventilating. "I can't, Wolfie, you know I can't. I always hated pvp in the game and I can't do that in real life. No way can I do this I can't do this I'm not a killer I never killed anything in my life oh gods I can't do this I don't even have my meds-!"

Pandora grabbed her friend and instantly hugged her. "Shh, shh, I got you. I got you. You won't go alone. I know it doesn't mean much but you aren't going alone. Maybe we won't be sent and those things'll get bored really quickly."

A vain hope, but one she had no choice but to put faith in.

First, though, her armor and gear needed to go on.


	3. A friend's thoughts

"You know, it's funny. I wanted to be a writer all my life, and yet I never had the motivation to keep up with writing a diary. But, I figured, if something happens to me, and Wolfie was able to get home, she could give this to my parents. I doubt either of them is going to believe me as I write this, but I hope they believe that I love them both and my brother.

Mom, Dad, do your best to stay connected to my brother, talk to him more, forgive him, don't cut him out of your lives. He's all you got now. Tell him I love him, and I want him to call home more often.

OK, with that out of the way, fuck the clean language, I am pissed off and scared out of my damn mind. I am not going to pretend that I'm brave, I am a giant chicken, but I have to force myself not to withdraw. I have to try and be a little bit useful. Damn, I cannot handle needles at all, how the hell am I going to handle combat wounds?

I want to hide, and cry, and scream, but I can't! At least, not as much as I want to. Wolfie and I are working on a way to get out of this universe, so that's the only thing I'm trying to focus on. That and learning about my abilities. Damn it, I had to be one of the weakest characters, with a messed up background.

Monkey turned my Shea into a werewolf before we came here. I was hoping I would have that at least, but apparently, I don't. I keep trying, but I guess I don't have that skill line which sucks, because it would have made this a little more bearable. At least I got a ghost deer though, that's pretty cool.

I am going to try and write down what happened so far and try to keep up on it."

Warlady put the quill down and rubbed her face. It took her quite a while to learn how to use the quill without breaking it, making the strange bug thing shake its head at her after the fourth time.

"Hey, back home we had plastic to make pens with! Not my fault your tech isn't high enough!" she snapped at it, frustration with everything making her more irritable around everyone.

She was thankful Pandora did her best to keep her calm, but there were times that she just couldn't stand the damn puns. In small doses, maybe, but not all the time. Which was probably a testament to how helpless her friend felt in the entire situation.

But until someone figured out how the hell to get them home, both were so far out of there element as to not be in the same universe.

With a groan, Warlady picked the quill back up and started writing some more, explaining how badly she freaked out when she woke up in the streets of Wayrest. Surrounded by hundreds that were still unconscious and a small few waking up, she couldn't find her group of friends anywhere, calling out their names and beginning to panic when she couldn't find them.

It was an Argonian female that hugged and comforted her to calm her down enough. When she did, Warlady explained how she needed to make sure her friends were okay, or at least know they were alive.

"You and I both. But we need to get everyone off the ground, or at least on something other than stone."

Agreeing with that, Warlady helped carry those that weren't awake yet to various houses, making sure each had a bed or something soft to lay on.

It was only through helping carry a particularly large Orc that Warlady found Pandora, lying in an alley.

"Wolfie!" she cried out, almost dropping the Orc to go to her. But an Altmer told her to carry the Orc to the inn, he'll carry the Khajiit there as well.

As soon as Warlady helped get the Orc to a cot, she pretty much ran to Pandora's side, fretting over her in worry. Constant checking of her pulse, petting of her head, making sure she was breathing.

It took her awhile to make herself understand that her friend was alive, just unconscious. But once that understanding took hold, Warlady decided that fretting over her friend wasn't going to help her. She needed to do something other than hover.

So she decided to figure out what she could about the place, which sadly wasn't as much as she hoped. Even getting her things like potions and her weaponry came with more questions than answers. But she also decided to learn to cook to mainly help take her mind off of everything. Even if the cooks were those strange bug people. They were helpful in teaching her some simple recipes to start with, but some of the more complex recipes required ingredients she couldn't get easily. And they required more time than she was willing to devote to it.

Her dishes weren't bad and people did seem to enjoy what food she made, though the bug people were rather insistant they make the drinks. Someone accused the insects that they were using the drinks as a means of keeping them mind-controlled and docile, but there was no proof.

Warlady still preferred drinking clean water, though.

Then, when she was almost finished cooking a chicken roast meal, she heard screaming and thrashing above her. As people had been waking up slowly over the course of a few days, many did awaken in terror due to how they got there, but once she finished the meal, she realized that it was her friend Pandora that had been screaming in fear.

Almost spilling the food and pint of water, she quickly made her way upstairs to see how she was, and saw her recovering from her panicked awakening. Once Pandora had some food and some water in her, she did seem to calm down even more, even if she was agitated about being unable to get home.

But it was after Warlady was helping her get her stuff that they learned what their fate was. And she was ever so thankful that Pandora was there, even if the puns were driving her abit nutsy.

After King Emeric gave his people permission to explore outside the city, the people began to explore and discover many things. Like how the Spriggans weren't as pretty as they were in the game, the imps were vicious, and most horrifying of all, no one could truly die.

It happened when someone explored the Baelborne ruins and one of the imps electrocuted someone to death. But instead of just becoming a burnt corpse, he just turned into a ghost before becoming a person again. And from what he could tell anyone that listened, the pain of coming back to life was just as bad as dying.

That...didn't sit well with Pandora for some reason. She probably subconsciously banked on dying and being teleported home that way.

But now that they knew that wasn't going to happen, both began to plan how to get the hell out of there.

They needed to get ahold of their friends for assistance, however. So how were they going to get a message to the other alliances?


End file.
